Locomotive booster recorder



July 10, 1945. F. D. WELDEN LOCOMOTIVE BOOSTER RECORDER Filed Jan. 12,19444 2 Sheets-Sheet l OW 5 m K WW m y M A F I yO/m 0 July 10, 194590 0F; D. WELDEN 2,380,001

LOCOMOTIVE BOOSTER RECORDER Filed Jan. 12, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 AAAAALAI i 4 g i FZC'TU I \J \J i 1 INVENTOR.

FAY D. WELDEN A TTORNE YS Patented July 10, 1945 LOCOMOTIVE BOOSTERRECORDER- Fay D. Welden, Tuckahoe, N. Y., assignor to Valve PilotCorporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York ApplicationJanuary 12, 1944, Serial No. 517,955 4 Claims. (01. 1o5 4s) Thisinvention relates to apparatus for recording the operation of alocomotive booster.

A booster is used as an auxiliary engine to supply additional traction,articularly on start-' ing or on heavy grades. Most railroads haveprescribed rules for booster operation: the

booster must be idled a given time before use to tree the mechanism ofcondensed steam and to assure positive operation; it must not be cut inat locomotive speeds above a specified minimum, say twelve miles anhour, or continued in service at locomotive speeds above a specifiedmaximum, say twenty-two miles an hour. This means that if a train isnegotiating a grade and decelerating rapidly, the engineer must waituntil his speed has dropped to twelve miles an hour, or lower, before hemay augmenthis power output by the use of his booster; it means, too,that when using the booster for supplementary starting power, it must becut out before the train attains a speed of more'than twenty-two milesan hour.

Although the engineer is expected to observe these rules, and doubtlessdoes, no means are at present available for making a record of boosteroperation, showing for each trip the duration of each period ofinactivity, idling and running and the speeds at which the booster wascut in and out out. It is the object of the present invention to providesuch means. I achieve this object by mounting a stylus to write upon thespeed record tape of the locomotive and moving it in response to theoperation of the booster to make distinctive or significant marks on thetape. Preferably I actuate this stylus by either of two electromagnets,one of which is energized when the booster .is idling, the other when itis running, and neither when it is inactive.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated certaian preferredembodiments of my invention a study of which will make clear theprinciples involved.

In these drawings- 1 Figure 1 is a plan view of' the ordinary instrumenthousing showing the record-tape rolls and the recorder of the presentinvention;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the parts shown in Figure '1;

Figure 81s an end view of the stylus and its operating mechanism; i

Figure 4 is a view of a typical tape showing speed and booster operationrecords;

Figure 5 is a schematic lay-out showing the booster and its operatingand control elements:

Figure 6 is a wiring diagram for the electromagnet which operates thestylus.

I shall first describe the booster operating and control elements asshown in Figure 5. In this figure, 1 represents the booster engine, 2the booster cylinders, 3 the main steam line to the cylinder controlledby throttle valve 4, and 5 is an auxiliary steam line through whichsteam for idling is fed to the cylinders and controlled by a throttlevalve 6. The booster engine drives the trailing truck wheels or thetender truck wheels 7, through a gear train not shown. One of the gearsin the train is an idler normally out of mesh with the axle gear on axle8. When the booster is running this idler gear is swung into and held inengagement with the axle gear by- The throttle means of the clutchcylinder 9. valves 4 and 6 and the clutch cylinder 9 are all operated bycompressed air controlled by the booster reverse lever pilot valve illin a manner that I shall now describe. Compressed air from theairreservoir passes to valve l0 through air line H, whence it passes,depending upon the setting of idling valve lever i2 and booster latchE3, through air line ll to the throttle valve 6 or through air line IIto clutch cylinder 9 and throttle operating cylinder it, or is stoppedat the valve. When the valve lever i2 is set as shown in the drawings noair passes from the air line H and the booster is inactive. when thelever l2 is turned to the left, lines II and M the idler into drivingengagement with the axle gear of the booster. The foregoing is a briefdescription of a typical booster operating and control system and ofitself forms no part of the present invention.

In accordance with my invention I utilize the air pressures in air linesII and I! to selectively operate my recording mechanism. I do thisbymeans "of electro-pneumatic switches l1 and Il operatively connectedto air lines It and it, respectively. These switches are so designedthat they are normally open and are closed when their respective airlines are put under operating pressure.

' idling valve lever l2 and booster latch ll. results-in swinging thearmature I downward I shall now describe the recording instrwneni;itself with particular reference to Figures 1, a and 3. In thesefigures, i8 represents the usual in.- strument housing containing thespeedometer mechanism. On top of this housing are mounted the usual taperolls; the'supplv roll I 8, the registration roll and the take-up roll 2l. The tape 22 is fed from the supply roll, over the registration rolland onto the take-up roll at a constant speed or at a speed proportionalto the speed of the locomotive over the rails. Mounted on top of thehousing i8 and in front of the supply roll is a standard 23 at the upperend of which an arm II is pivotally mounted for limited movement about ahorizontal axis. otally mounted upon arm 24 for limited movement about avertical axis. This arm 28 carries a stylus in the form of a pencil 26which is constantly urged into contact with the tape passing over theregistration roll 20 by means of a spring 21 and normally draws acontinuous straight horizontal line on the tape. Also carried by thestandard I! are two electromagnets 28 and I! with their cores verticaland spaced slightly one from the other. standard 23 and midway betweenthe two electromagnets is an armature 3| articulated to arm 24 by meansof a link 3!. The armature III is normally held midway between thetwoelectromagnets by means of compression springs 32. When eitherelectromagnet is energized it swings the armature 30 toward it withsuiiicient force to overcome the resistance or its spring 32. This Asecond are is piv-' Pivotaliy mounted upon the movement of the armatureis transmitted through link II to the arm 24 and causes the pencil I tomake a. short vertical mark on the tape 22.

I shah now ducribe the electrical connections through which theelectromagnets II and II are energized in response to operation of thebooster, with particular reference to Figure 6. The coil of the upperelectromagnet 28 is in series with a source of electrical energy 33 andelectro-pneumatic switch I1. Normally this switch is held open by aspring II. when the air line H is placed under pressure by manipulationof idler valve lever I! the pressure of spring 34 is overcome and theswitch II is closed thereby completing the circuit through the coil ofelectromagnet 28, energizing the magnet and causing armature to risesuddenly, carrying with it arm 24 and pencil II. The coil of the lowerelectromagnet 28 is similarly in series withthe power source 33 andswitch I 8 and is energized when air line I6 is placed under pressurethrough manipulation of This and with it arm 24 and pencil 36. It willbe noted that when the booster is running air lines II and II are bothunder pressure and, therefore, switches l1 and il would both be closed.This would result in energizing both electromagnets and interfering withthe orderly operation of the recording mechanism. I have, therefore,placed a relay 35 in the system which operates to open the circuitincluding the upper coil when the lower coil is energized. In order tobalance the resistance of the relay in the lower coil circuit I place asuitableresistor II in the upper coil circuit. 1

the tape shown in this figure the lower line 81 is the speed record andthe upper line 38 the booster operation record. The left-hand end ofnlng at a uniform speed with the booster inactive. The engineer thenapproaches a station stop and brings his train to a standstill as shownby the precipitate drop in curve 3?. Knowing that he will want to usethe booster on starting from this station, the engineer, Just prior toslowing down manipulates the idler valve lever 12 to start the boosteridling. This is shown by the short vertical rise in line 38 followed bya horizontal line above the original horizontal line. This continuesuntil the train has come to a full stop. On starting up, the engineer,by proper manipulation oi the idler valve lever and the booster latch,throws his booster into running position and this is shown by thevertical drop in line 38 immediately above the low point in the speedcurve 31. The train now accelerates and the time is approaching when theengineer should cut out his booster. Thus, at twenty-two miles an hourhe throws the booster into neutral as shown by the short vertical 'risein the line 38 followed by the horizontal line in neutral position.After a time the train approaches a heavy grade causing the speed todecelerate, as shown by the drop in the curve I1. The engineer knowinghe will need the booster on this grade first idles it, then passesthrough neutral, and then when the speed has dropped to twelve miles anhour, cuts the booster in. The train accelerates slowly but finallymakes the grade with the boosters help and then at twenty-two miles perhour the engineer once more cuts the booster out. The whole story of thebooster operation is thus clearly written on the speed tape and shows inconjunction with the simultaneous speed record at what speeds thebooster was cut in and cut out. And knowing these speeds it is a simplematter to calculate the duration of the various phases of the boosteroperation.

I claim:

1. In a locomotive equipped with a booster, a main steam line supplyingsteam to the booster for running it, a throttle valve in the main steamline, an auxiliary steam line supplying steam to the booster for idlingit, a throttle valve in the auxiliary steam line and manually controlledmeans for selectively opening each throttle valve, the improvement whichcomprises means for recording the operation of the booster on a movabletape including a stylus that marks the tape, electromagnetic means formoving the stylus to make distinctive marks on the tape when the boosteris idling and when the booster is running, and means operated uponmovement of the throttle-valve control means to idling and to runningpositions for energizing the electromagnetic means to cause the stylusto make a dlstlnctive record of the periods during which the booster isidling and during which it is running, respectively.

'2 In a locomotive equipped with a booster, a main steam line supplyingsteam to the booster for running it, a throttle valve in the main steamline, an auxiliary steam line supplying steam to the booster for idlingit, a throttle valve, in the auxiliary steam line, a source ofcompressed air, air lines leading from each throttle valve to the sourceof compressed air, and manually controlled air valves for selectivelyconnecting each throttle valve with the source of compressed air,

the improvement which comprises means for the tape shown in Figure 4shows the train runis recording the operation of the booster on amovable tape including a stylus that marks the tape, an armatureconnected with the stylus, two electromagnets, one on either side of thearmaineach air line and in series with one electromagnet and a source ofelectrical energy, operation of each manually controlled air valve toopen the appropriate throttle valve closing the appropriate switch,energizing the appropriate electromagnet' and causing the stylus to makea significant marl; on the tape.

3. In a locomotive equipped with a booster, a main steam line supplyingsteam to thebooster for running it, a throttle valve in the main steamline, an auxiliary steam, line supplying steam to the booster tor idlingit, a throttle valve in the auxiliary steam line and pneumatic meansforselectively opening each throttle valve, the improvement which comprisesmeans for recording the operation of the booster on a movable tapeincluding'a stylus that marks the tape, electromagnetic means for movingthe stylus to make distinctive marks on the tape, and means oper- 'atedupon actuation of the pneumatic valvecontrol means to open the throttlevalve in the main steam line, and upon actuation of the g g I I8,880,001 1 I v ture, a normally open electro-pneumatic switch thebooster for idling it, a throttle valve in the the stylus to make arecord oi the periods during which steam, is supplied to the boosterthrough the main and auxiliary steam lines, respectively.

4. In a locomotive equipped with a booster, a main steam line supplyingsteam to the booster for running it, a throttle valve in the main steamline, an auxiliary steam line supplying steam to auxiliary steam line,and manually controlled means for selectively opening each throttlevalve, the improvement which comprises means for recording the operationof the booster on a movable tape including a stylus that marks the tape,

an armature connected with the stylus, two

electromagnets, one on either side of the armature means for energizingone electromagnet throttle valve in the auxiliary steam line, for

energizing the electromagnetic means to cause when the auxiliary steamline throttle is open to move the stylus to one position, means forenergizing the other electromagnet when the main steam line throttle isopen to-move thestylus to another position, and means for holding thestylusin an intermediate position when neitherthrottle is open and thebooster is inactive.

FAY D. WELDEN!

